Bento Boxes: An Old Japanese Tradition with an American Twist
If you’ve never heard of Bento, or think it must be a new cartoon character you’ve never heard of, you aren’t alone. All of a sudden, I saw Bento this and that popping up in the mommy circles I’m in. I was intrigued enough to check it out.
Traditionally, the term Bento box refers to a specific kind of lunchbox used in Japan for boxed lunches, the Japanese version of a brown bag. They can range from plastic and cute to intricate and traditional. Some of them are almost like jewelry boxes, with little spaces for small amounts of food. The idea is to arrange small bits of food in an aesthetically pleasing way.
“Mom-Bento” on the other hand is gaining popularity in America. This way of doing Bento involves serving tiny portions of food (because that’s all your kids will eat anyway) in a pleasing and different way. In addition to this way of preparing and serving food creating new interest in trying new foods, some moms like it because it automatically enforces portion control, too. As with many things traditionally Japanese, the focus is on pleasing the eye and palate, not stuffing the stomach out of a greasy brown bag.
You can buy many versions of Bento boxes, and you might want to consider these little treasure chests if you are packing lunches for your kids at school, or for yourself at work. Some Japanese moms take this part very seriously, rising early in the morning to make sure that their little student has the most elaborate Bento lunch in his class. But you don’t need to go to that extreme.
If you are doing Bento at home, just look at it like creating a fun meal for your child. You can take any shallow bowl or tray, like a shallow Tupperware container; put a sliced strawberry in a cupcake liner; carrot circles in another; and cut a peanut butter and jelly sandwich into four flower shapes, for instance.
Once you get started, you will start noticing lots of tiny items around your home that will hold a bite or two of food. I’ve even seen a child’s miniature tea set pressed into service, by using a tiny tea cup to hold a few blueberries, nestled into a small cardboard box along with rolled-up turkey slices, a cupcake liner holding honey mustard dipping sauce, and a dollop of couscous in another tiny bowl. Just make sure the dishes you are using are labeled non-toxic.
Plastic skewers come in lots of colors and different ornaments on the end. They are a big hit for roll-up sandwiches or for spearing fruit. Little syrup or jam bottles from restaurants get a second life with syrup or sauces.
Cookie cutters get pressed into service making those cute little sandwiches. Anybody would rather eat a flower, star, or heart than a plain old pb&j.; You can use the cookie cutters to create shapes out of cheese.
Approach each meal like it’s a work of art. Think of color and what would look best as a total arrangement. Think small. Think fun. Some mamas even tuck a flower, or small toy into the boxed meal for extra enjoyment.
I know what you’re thinking right now. At least, it was the first thought that came to my mind: Why waste the time?
Surprisingly, creating a tiny, pretty meal in a shallow tray takes no more time than assembling meals our usual way does. Especially not when you add in the coaxing to eat factor. You can splurge on a few Bento things, and for the rest, look around your house with Bento-focused eyes.
And in case you are now wondering, why bother? Well, it’s fun, for one thing. For another, you tend to naturally serve smaller portions of more items and that makes for more well rounded meals. And new presentation does increase interest in new foods for those children who have picky tastes.
Doing mama-Bento is fun, inexpensive, healthy and can give you an artistic outlet if you are of artistic bent; if, like me, you do not consider yourself artistic, you’d be surprised at how creative you can become over something that has to be done anyway, like feeding the kids.
